When I took the dogs out this morning, I discovered several periwinkle blossoms near the mailbox. The cars and sidewalk were already covered with a slick sheet of ice. The flowers were a bright spot on a grey morning.
Back inside where it's dry and more or less warm, it's time for English Breakfast tea and blogs.
At my place of employ, we are limited to very strict 37 and 1/2 hour work weeks. But once a year, during "busy season," they extend our hours. So here I am on a Saturday morning, plugged into my computer, trying to earn a little extra money to help with all the home improvements I've been doing.On that subject, I managed to get the ceiling of the bathroom primed. And that's it. Ugh.At least there will be free pizza for lunch. Of course, they usually order that wretched sheet pizza with the thick crust. I like my pizza thin and greasy.
Ever since the day I started Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes, I have been a devoted armchair traveller. I have devoured many more books in the travel narrative genre since then. I've received most as gifts, but I've bought plenty on my own. I have even been using Frances Mayes' engagement calenders for years. It makes such a charming addition to my desktop.Quite some time ago, I was browsing through Phantom Scribbler's blogroll, looking for new blogs to read. I happened up The Xpat Files where I've been happily lurking. Today I scanned her links and one caught my eye, Dispatches from France. And with that, a whole new world open before my very eyes.Now I can have travel narratives available at my fingertips and with constant updates. What could be better?
I've been boring myself with this blog of late, so I can only imagine how you all feel. That said, bullets are about all I can come up with today:
D has finished his portion of the bathroom. Now I get to prime and paint the walls, ceiling, and brand new trim. Then I can buy a new medecine cabinet to cover the gaping, dust-filled hole into the insulation.Paulie does not like the snow. In the last 15 hours he has peed and pooed on the brand new carpet. Can you see the steam coming out of my ears?It took me 45 minutes to get to work this morning. That does not count the time it took me to clean off the car. Apparently, winter has decided to make an appearance. Why again did I move 10 minutes farther away from work (on a good day)?I've been having cinnamon toast for breakfast of late (soft-sided Italian with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled liberally over the melted butter), but it doesn't "stick to my ribs" and keep me full for more than a couple hours. So last night at Weggies, I picked up a loaf of their Marathon Energy Bread. It has sunflower, sesame, and flax seeds among other crunchy bits. The thing that threw me was what appeared to be little hunks of carrots. It's not that I mind necessarily, but it seems like that would be something they should warn you about on the label, no?I know I shouldn't own up to this but I am so desperate to have the cable hooked up. If, for some reason, this snow prevents the cable guy from showing up tonight, I will be very upset. And it's not just the Internets I miss. Three nights without Law & Order was more than enough.I did my first load of laundry at the new house last night. A washer! And dryer! Oh my! Oh yeah. Guess where all my boots are? And the snowblower? Yup, that's right. The old house. Perfect. And we are supposed to get another five to ten inches today.
We spent our first night in the new house last night. By that I mean we slept for a few measly hours before that darn alarm clock went off. I'm so exhausted I can't see how I will be able to do anything productive tonight. Like clean out the kitchen cabinets, unpack, move more stuff from the old house, or paint. All I want to do is sleep. Or to be honest, I want to snuggle with my down comforter on the couch and watch reruns of SVU. No cable though. So much for that idea.
But it was so nice to shower in my brand new shiny white bathtub this morning. And not to have to turn sideways to fit around the bed in the dark. And to be able to walk around in my sock feet.I can't wait to set up my computer and organize my "office" and put books on the shelves and... and ...
Maybe.Hopefully.If the weather holds. Which doesn't look promising. Gray skies...Anyway, we are planning on moving some of the big furniture items from the old house to the new today (i.e. TV stand, computer desk, dishwasher, coffee table). Ideally, we hope to spend the night there tonight. Although the bathroom has not been painted yet, the shower has been finished and the vanity has been installed.I've also finished painting all but the trim and the closet in the smallest bedroom. The dumpster finally showed up and the basement has been all but emptied. Everyone feels better about us living there now that the majority of the mold, mildew, and dust has been removed. I'm still leaning towards sloshing bleach over everything on that level though.The cable will be hooked up on Wednesday, so this could be my last post from the old house. Keep your fingers crossed.
Why does it take more than a week to pick up a full dumpster and bring it back empty? We are going on a week and half now and no dumpster. Hello? Anybody out there? We have a huge pile of junk just waiting for a receptacle.And speaking of waiting, why oh why did I bust my ass painting just so I could sit around looking at a virtually done house? If it weren't for that damn bathroom, we could move in. Couch. Check.Kitchen table. Check.Bed. Check.Working fridge. Check.Almost clean oven. Check.Toilet. Check.Bathtub drain. Uh no. Crap.We make do without a vanity in the bathroom, but we can't live without a shower. (Anti-whine: The forecasted highs are in the 50s. That's the kind of January I can almost deal with.)
When I took the dogs out this morning, I discovered several periwinkle blossoms near the mailbox. The cars and sidewalk were already covered with a slick sheet of ice. The flowers were a bright spot on a grey morning.
